Board of Directors
The Portico Library and Newsroom is a registered charity and a limited company. Its work is overseen by a Board of Directors, who are also its Trustees. Before the forming of the charity in 2017, some of the Board were members of the Main Committee, the group responsible for the management of the Library. The current board members were all elected in 2022.
John Carpenter, Chair
John is a Chartered Civil Engineer, he lived in Manchester for 35 years with a fascination for its social history. He is also an author and speaker on risk management issues and local history. He was elected as Chair of the Board of Directors in 2022.
Kathryn Graham, Secretary
Kathryn is a solicitor specialising in trust and charity law and works in the city centre. She fell in love with Library at first sight and finds it a peaceful haven in the midst of a busy day. She has been a trustee since 2018.
Dr David Cooper
David is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English at Manchester Metropolitan University where he is also the founding Co-Director of the Centre for Place Writing. His critical and creative research focuses on the relationship between literature and geography with a particular focus on the landscapes of North-West England. Before doctoral study at Lancaster University, David's career in arts development included roles as Arts Officer at the Wordsworth Trust in Grasmere and Literature Development Officer for the City of York.
Esther Lisk-Carew
Esther has worked across the UK in arts, heritage and culture for over 20 years and currently works as Heritage Lead for The World Reimagined, an arts education project around British history & racial justice. Before becoming a Trustee, Esther was a founding member of the Portico Library’s Equity and Representation action group. Her interests include quizzes and she has appeared as a contestant on Mastermind and Pointless.
Heather Gray
Heather is Director of Sales for Clockwise, a Flexi Office space provider with sites across the UK and Europe. She co-chairs Pro-Manchester’s Property and Regeneration committee and sat on the North West Women in Property Committee in 2020-21. Drawing on her passion for empowering and championing young women in business, she has advised at 10 Downing Street on how to support female entrepreneurs. Heather has been a Rising Star in the Manchester Young Talent Awards; appeared on the Northern Power Women Future List; and been awarded Employee of the Year and Female Networker of the Year at the City of Manchester Business Awards.
Karen Chancellor
Born and educated in Bolton, Karen taught history, including a year in Australia, before moving into museum education in the South West. She then worked for the National Trust before becoming Learning and Volunteer Coordinator on several heritage and capital projects across the East of England. She joined The National Lottery Heritage Fund in 2014, moved back to the North West in 2019, retiring in 2022. Karen was inspired by her first visit to The Portico Library and is thrilled by the opportunity to contribute towards its development. She is committed towards inclusion and the involvement of young people. Her wider interests include Victorian literature and travel.
Kevin Dalton-Johnson
Kevin’s pedagogic experience extends over 25 years, using specialist knowledge of art and SEN to support and engage people in educational settings from mainstream to offender learning. He is an internationally commissioned artist who created Lancaster’s Captured Africans, the first public sculpture at a UK quayside to memorialise enslaved Africans. Currently Kevin is engaged in education research at Manchester Metropolitan University and as Creative Impact Lead for the Runnymede Trust’s Race, Inclusion and Representation in Visual Arts and Arts Education project, commissioned by the Freelands Foundation.
Ruth Allen
Ruth is an established journalist and company director who is passionate about making culture and life-long learning opportunities available to everybody. She has worked with many local and national organisations including Manchester International Festival, The Guardian, the MEN and the Telegraph. Projects include editing Time Out’s Manchester guide and Metro’s regional cultural section, and founding what’s on website Manchester Wire. She is thrilled to be involved with the Library during this period of adaptation and expansion.
Louisa Yates
Louisa Yates is a writer and academic who works as both Director of Collections and Research at Gladstone’s Library and as a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Chester. In her role at Gladstone’s she heads the team who run the Reading Rooms, open to all and home to one of the world’s great nineteenth-century collections. Louisa writes and teaches on women’s writing, neo-Victorian literature and Victorian material culture, and she’s one of the Festival Directors of Gladfest, hailed in the Huffington Post as a ‘great small literary festival’.
Sadé Omeje
Sadé is a co-opted Young Person Member of the Board. She gained her degree in English Literature and American Studies at the University of Manchester and volunteered for the Manchester Literature Festival for two years. Previously, Sadé worked as an assistant editor at Harper Collins publishing. Her motivation to become part of the Portico Library stemmed from her love of books, the written word, culture and history. She is eager to involve young people across Manchester and work with communities across the North West.